Garcetti, Greuel in dead heat for L.A. mayor

After all the campaigning and debating by the candidates, voters cast their ballots for the next mayor of Los Angeles on Tuesday. City residents also voted for other city officials and on ballot measures.

Laura J. Nelson

The latest round of election results that trickled in Tuesday night showed City Councilman Eric Garcetti and City Controller Wendy Greuel in a dead heat in the race to be the next mayor of Los Angeles.

With 8% of precints reporting, Greuel had 50% of the vote and Garcetti had 49.9%.

Of the 171,998 ballots counted, 160,471 were mailed in before election day. Candidates in some city races, including council seats, had early leads of 10 points or more. But with the vast majority of ballots yet to be counted, all races remained up for grabs.

Polls closing Tuesday night marked the end of two years of campaigning for Greuel and Garcetti in their quests to replace Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

After defeating six other candidates in the March primary, the two candidates continued to rely on large, unregulated spending by outside groups, a topic that also dominated the debates and advertisements that bombarded Angelenos in recent weeks.

At a party at a nightclub in downtown Los Angeles, Greuel supporters had said her slim lead was the first step toward victory. Garcetti supporters at a party at the Hollywood Palladium said they were confident the race would turn their way.

In the race for the city's top lawyer position, former state Assemblyman Mike Feuer held an 18-point lead over incumbent Carmen Trutanich, leading the race 59% to 41%.

Lawyer Ron Galperin led former City Councilman Dennis Zine 52% to 48% for the city controller position.

In the race to replace outgoing City Councilman Ed Reyesin the 1st District, former state Legislator Gilbert Cedillo led the race against rival Jose Gardea—who served as Reyes' chief of staff—55% to 45%. As more votes came in from the 1st District, Gardea closed the gap slightly from results earlier in the night.

Cindy Montanez, formerly in the state Assembly, held 46% of the vote in a field of six candidates to fill the council's 6th District seat. The position representing the San Fernando Valley has been empty since former Councilman Tony Cardenas was elected to Congress in the fall.

In the 13th District, which spans neighborhoods including Hollywood, Echo Park and Silver Lake, former Garcetti staffer Mitch O'Farrell led rival John Choi 53% to 47%.

The ballot also included three separate measures that would regulate medical marijuana in Los Angeles. The measure with the most votes will win, but only if it receives more than 50% of the vote. If none of the three receives majority approval, they all fail.

About 64% had voted yes on Measure D, which would shrink the number of pot shops in Los Angeles to about 130.